With Jimmy Butler out and Bam Adebayo battered, Heat fall to Thunder, 104-97

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Dec 20, 2024

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MIAMI — Ultimately, this was a stomach-turning, painful reminder of the level of competition in the NBA — particularly for Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.

Faced with the challenge of the best of the NBA West, the Miami Heat wound up shorthanded and came up short Friday night in a 104-97 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at Kaseya Center.

With forward Jimmy Butler exiting for the night in the first quarter with a stomach illness, and with center Bam Adebayo forced to retreat to the locker room in the third for seven stitches above his left eye, the Heat now have followed up their season-best four-game winning streak with a two-game losing streak.

While Adebayo returned to close with 17 points and 10 rebounds, there simply wasn’t enough against the quality depth of the Thunder, who got 33 points from Jalen Williams and 25 from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, his 26th 20-point game of the season, most in the NBA. The Thunder also got 18 rebounds from center Isaiah Hartenstein

Tyler Herro stood as the lone consistent source of offense for the Heat, closing with 28 points, a season-high 12 rebounds and five assists.

Further hampering the Heat were 19 turnovers that led to 27 Thunder points.

After the sting of blowing an eight-point overtime lead in Monday night’s road loss to the Detroit Pistons, this one snapped the Heat’s five-game home winning streak.

Up next for the Heat, amid the uncertainty of Butler’s health, is a Saturday night road game against the Orlando Magic.

Five Degrees of Heat from Friday night’s game:

— 1. Closing time: The Thunder led 30-25 at the end of the first quarter and 50-47 at halftime.

Both teams then had 10-0 runs in the third period, which ended with the Thunder up 81-70.

From there, Herro returned with 8:07 to play, with the Heat down 89-80, with Dru Smith’s third 3-pointer of the night drawing the Heat within 96-91 with 3:33 remaining.

The Heat had a chance to further trim that deficit, with a missed free throw and turnover by Jaime Jaquez Jr. thwarting that surge and a Williams 3-pointer putting the Thunder up 101-92.

Herro countered with a 3-pointer with 74 seconds to play to make it 101-95, with an Adebayo free throw drawing the Heat within 101-96 with 45.7 seconds left.

A pair of Thunder free throws later and it effectively was over.

— 2. Butler ill: Butler went to the locker room with 4:41 to play in the opening period after appearing to turn his left ankle while battling Luguenz Dort for a loose ball.

That had Butler out of the game before even attempting his first shot.

The Heat shortly thereafter said Butler was out for the night due to an illness, having arrived at the arena with a stomach bug.

Moments before Butler twisted his ankle, he walked over to the Heat bench during a Heat free throw and requested something from trainer Armando Rivas.

Jaquez started the second half in place of Butler.

— 3. Adebayo out, too: Then, just 1:41 into the second half, Adebayo was forced to the locker room after taking a friendly-fire elbow to his face from Jaquez while fighting for a rebound, requiring seven stitches above his left eye.

Adebayo checked out after playing 19:33, with eight points, three rebounds and three turnovers.

He then returned with 4:17 left in the third and then Heat down 71-63.

Through it all, Adebayo recorded the 206th double-double of his career, moving past Alonzo Mourning (205) for second on the Heat all-time list. Only Rony Seikaly (221) has more.

— 4. Herro time: With Butler out, Herro again seized his moment, including eight rebounds in the first half.

Herro was up to a double-double by the early stages of the third period, securing his 10th rebound with 8 minutes left in the third. Herro entered with a season high of 11 rebounds and a career high of 15.

— 5. Jovic returns: Nikola Jovic and Pelle Larsson were both again available for the Heat, after being out with ankle sprains.

With Kevin Love ineffective in his first stint at backup center, Jovic entered in the second period, with seven points in his 7:40 in the quarter.

Jovic then entered early in the third period, when Adebayo was forced to the locker room.

Jovic scored 14 points off the bench in his previous appearance, the Dec. 12 home victory over the Toronto Raptors, with 11 points in that second period.

Larsson was available after missing four games with his ankle sprain.